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Democratic hopefuls see political gain in gun fight

But there’s also a recognition among party leaders that the base is clamoring for action on guns. In a Washington Post/ABC News poll published Monday, Democratic voters called gun control and stopping gun violence their second-highest priority, after the economy.

For Republican voters, guns were a much lower priority, while the economy and spending took the top two slots.

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Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, the vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said there was “great momentum” for measures that would make it easier for law enforcement to fight gun crimes. Rybak helped organize a Midwestern Regional Gun Summit last week and called state and local legislation a natural response to gridlock in Washington.

“If people think they’re going to face the wrath of the NRA for doing something, they don’t have any idea what they’re going to face if they don’t do anything,” said Rybak, who like other mayors has called on Congress to withdraw barriers to information-sharing between local and federal police. “When I’m on a street corner standing with a mom over the body of her dead kid, there should not be a congressman in Washington who prevents our police from talking to the ATF.”

Added Rybak: “I absolutely expect something can happen in Washington and the only way it won’t happen is if people keep saying it won’t happen.”

“There’s a lot of focus on this. As I’ve wrapped up the year, meeting with community groups, even business groups — I can’t think of a group I’ve met with over the last 30 days where … gun safety didn’t come up,” said Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, a candidate for governor in 2014. “Democrats — and Republicans, quite frankly — are very much interested and concerned. They’re asking the question: ‘what is government going to do to ensure that a Newtown, Conn., doesn’t happen in our community school in Maryland?’”

Not all blue states are created equal, when it comes to gun laws: if Marylanders and New Yorkers are enthusiastic about a gun crackdown, there’s less demand in more rural states such as Minnesota or Colorado. (“I don’t believe our legislature and governor will be moving as quickly as some in other parts of the country,” Rybak said.)

Andrew Romanoff, the former Colorado House speaker and a potential 2014 congressional candidate, said part of the demand for state action on guns came from an instinctive distrust of heavy-handed federal regulation.

“If you ask folks here, ‘would you rather see the state act or would you want to put your faith in Congress?’ it wouldn’t be a tough call any year. But especially not this year after watching the fiscal follies the last month or so,” Romanoff said.

Still, he recalled attending a victory celebration last month for Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter, who has represented Aurora, when the raw emotion of the gun debate broke through.

“It was a feel-good event, except for the fact that it was in the wake of the Newtown tragedy and someone cried out in the middle of his speech, ‘Would you please do something to stop this?’” Romanoff said. “It was a poignant moment that brought a lot of applause from the crowd.”